The Angel Conspiracy
by Wispyspark
Summary: Announcement, Will continue
1. Prologue

**Neon Genesis Evangelion**

**The Angel Conspiracy**

**Prologue**

8:38 P.M. March 27, 2015

Neo Tokyo-3, Japan

The lights of Tokyo-3, on the eastern sea board of Japan, spread out like a chain of Christmas lights. The city itself was a testament to technology. A mass of fission reactors powered the city, and with three back-ups made a black out or loss of power theoretically impossible. Three supercomputers acted as the city's government, to increase productivity.

          A large military escort went along the main streets of Tokyo-3; the large military escort surrounded three black stretch limos. It went along a side street and stopped along a guard gate at the base of the mountain. The escort along with its passengers with inside to disappear it the intricate tunnel system that ran under the city to a secret underground base.   

"Command… the Three Kings have arrived," said a man dressed in complete black talking into a headset, "I repeat the Three Kings have arrived at Gate 87, over" 

          "Understood, agent," replied baas heavy voice in the agent's ear piece, "report back to base, I have another assignment."

There was no more that needed to be said, so the agent stood up, still in the shadows, and made his way too the pick up point to receive his next orders, maybe if he was lucky he could get home early tonight, just maybe.

          The Three Kings where in fact generals of the U.N. forces. One was a five star, another a four star and the last was a third star. The generals where apart of the tribunal war council, they sat there waiting until they arrived at NERV head quarters. 

          "How long until we reach the geo front?" asked a general.   

          The crisp response came over the communications system, "ETA is ten minutes, sir." 

          "Thank you," said the General, "Lieutenant." 

As they entered the Geo-Front, none of them made any reaction to the beauty of the sphere. It had lush green forests, couple of lakes, and flawless green grass surrounded a single pyramid in the center of the paradise, the strange golden glow that emitted from the cave walls made the illusion that it was created of pure gold. 

          The three generals finally made their way into the massive building, the heart of NERV, a super secret division of the U.N. It was late into the night when they finally arrived at a raised platform that overlooked a massive holographic map of the world.

          "Report the ETA of the target," commanded the youngest of the group.     

          A rather attractive brunette in kaki uniform glided across the highly polished marble floor to the men and gave them each a folder marked "Top Secret – For your eyes only". "Here are the reports on the current data that we have as of one minute ago," said the young lady. 

"I hope you find this satisfactory."  The youngest of the group stared into the eyes of the young woman. He had never felt such a strong attraction to a person before. "Thank you, very much Miss," he said giving her his best I-am-very-attracted-to-you smile. His companions drew his attention onto more pressing matters.    

          "Seems that the target is over mid pacific," said the eldest, stating the obvious. 

          "Yes," replied the youngest, "and it also seems that it's larger than anything previously used as a weapon of war, roughly a metric mile long."

          "Rather impressive," said the second, "and it's due to arrive late morning." 

          "Yes," commented the eldest, "we will sound the alarms mid-morning so let the civilians have a nights rest, they will be having a long day tomorrow, if we don't succeed."

          "There still is Ikari," said the second, "he claims he has a weapon that can defeat it."

          "Ikari is a babbling scientist," said the youngest, "he knows nothing of commanding an army or a weapon of war, and he will fail if we don't win." 

          The man in question right now was in his office, deep in the bowls of the NERV pyramid. A phone rang, the low tone was the only sound aside from breathing. 

          "Yes?" asked a gruff voice, "Understood that will be all."

          The Commander of NERV, sat there on his desk, his dark orange glasses covering any emotion that his eyes revealed.  This man had a jet black beard that gave him a cold look. He wore white silk gloves to cover an injury that scared his hands for life. 

A gloved hand put down the phone receiver, the click of the phone echoed across the extensive room. 

          "Fuyutsuki, the spare just boarded the train, he will arrive approximately at ten a.m." said Commander Ikari. 

          "Understood," said Sub Commander Fuyutsuki, "I will have Section Two monitor him, to insure his safety."

          "Don't disappoint me." said Commander Ikari. 

With a nod, the Fuyutsuki disappeared among the shadows that engulf the room. 

Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki ran his hand through his grey hair. He was getting too old for this. It really didn't help that his hair was naturally grey, but now he looked older with wrinkles. Kouzou Fuyutsuki picked up a phone, "monitor the spare, and keep him out of trouble." he said. He hung of the phone, it was going to be a very long night and he knew it. Sometimes he wished he hadn't been so dumb as to dig himself deep into the secrets of NERV and SEELE, a super secret organization that funded NERV. Now he was too deep in, the only thing he could do was ride the wave until the end. He just hoped it wouldn't be a tsunami, one could only hope. 

          Ikari was very annoyed at the generals, their pompous attitudes where seriously pissing him off. But he could not afford to show any discomfort. But for now he could put up with them, they where only there for a short time, until they left with their tail between their legs, it was only a minor discomfort. Gendou Ikari sat there on the desk his gloved hands clasping each other over his mouth. Covering any facial expressions that could hinder his control over his inferiors, if he didn't he would lose control. He controlled with fear, he had to calculate any scenario or everything would be in jeopardy; the fate of the human race rested on that fact. He could not fail, it was not an option. 

          Akagi Ritsuko took a long drink from her coffee mug. The warmth spread across her body, making her shiver a little. She rarely went home, and when she did it was mostly to sleep, it was the curse she had to endure, because of her importance. Coffee was her only salvation, the long hours in the cold interior of NERV made her appreciate coffee even more. The only problem was that she started to develop a tolerance for the caffeine. Only six hours of sleep seemed to be taking its toll on her body. Her blonde hair stood out amongst the sea of brown and black. But she liked it, gave her a different look, she had it since her days in college, her ever present science coat provided her warmth as well as show her status. 

          She gave a deep sigh as she looked over the data pad that held the latest schematics of the Magi super computers. They where built by her mother, but she knew them just as well. They where running at ninety-eight percent efficiency. Possibly a head cold, she thought with affection. She gave a pat on the housing of one of the computers that was over looking in the massive command center. It was plain ridiculous that a computer could have a cold, even if it had bio-mater in its circuits.

          "Mind if I join you?" asked a soft and pleasant voice. Ritsuko was shaken out of her thoughts. She looked up at the voice to see her assistant of several years. She was just about the most brilliant in her field. Computers, she knew a great deal and was a fast learner, she also helped her in project E. 

          "Yeah," replied Ritsuko, "I would enjoy that."

          Misato Katsuragi looked at herself in the mirror, her long purple hair hung down to her mid back. She decided to brush her hair a little more than normal to add more shine; she was after all going to pick up the Commander's son tomorrow morning. It was nerve-racking to say the least, hopefully she didn't make a fool out of herself in front of him, and she didn't know anything about the kid expect what was commented in her summary report about the child. He was supposed to be the third, the Third Child, to be chosen as an Evangelion pilot. He looked very distracted in the small photo that was attached to a NERV ID card. But he was very cute for a guy, mid-long light brown hair, with stunning dark blue eyes. He was wearing a tight black shirt in the picture, the tone muscles where apparent.  He is going to very popular in school, though Misato.  She just hoped he could shoulder the burden that was the curse of all those that where involved with EVA. With any luck she could get some sleep tonight, the angel that was coming across the Pacific was more than enough to agitate her. If she was good enough they would live another day. So many ifs and so many hopes, yup tonight would be the longest in the history for those who knew what was coming. 


	2. Chapter One

**Chapter One**

7:53 A.M. March 28, 2015

In between Kyoto and Neo Tokyo-3

          Shinji Ikari sat down at his seat after a trip to the food car on the train that was destined to Neo Tokyo-3. He stomach finally full after a while, and his mind pondering as he looked out the window next to his seat. The trees and mountains flashed by, giving him a view that he had not seen in a very long time. 

          "Hey what's up?" asked a young chirpy voice. It belonged to a teenage girl around Shinji's age. 

          "OH," said a startled Shinji, "Hey, nothing much was just thinking." 

          The girl nodded, sage-like. "You do that too much Ikari, your head will explode." 

          Shinji gave his companion a lop-sided grin, "Yeah well, more than I can say for you Jane." 

          "Oh, shut up," pouted the young blonde. She had met Shinji on the ride here, about 3 hours ago, her light-hearted personality instantly sparked up a conversation with the light hair boy. She was going to Tokyo-3 to visit her grandmother for a few days.

          Shinji laughed, "Yeah, yeah," he managed to say, "lets get together later on, and I'll treat you to dinner." 

          "Ok," replied Jane, "So long as my grandmother says I can't."

          "Too bad you can't stay," said Shinji "I was hoping that you would be a buddy of mine."

          "Yeah, kind of sucks now that I met you and all." said Jane. 

          "Oh well," said Shinji, "let's make the best of it."

          "Yeah…" said Jane. 

          "Hey, don't worry;" said Shinji, "we can still talk." 

          "Yeah," said Jane enthusiastically, "I completely forgot." 

          "Blonde." said Shinji grinning.

          "Cute," said Jane sarcastically, "real cute." 

          "I know." said Shinji still grinning. 

          For the rest of the time they spent watching a movie on Shinji's laptop. 

          "Say…" said Jane, "Ikari, why are you going to Tokyo-3 anyways?"

          "Oh, well…" hesitated Shinji, "I was summoned by my father to work at NERV." 

          Jane gasped, "NERV?" she asked scarcely believing her ears. 

          "Yeah," said Shinji, "something I don't know about?"

          "Oh," said Jane, "well truthfully I don't know much about NERV myself, my cousin works there though."

          "Neat," said Shinji, "what does he do?"

          "I think he is a tech," said Jane, "but I'm not entirely sure." 

          "No matter," said Shinji, "maybe I'll get a chance to meet him."

          "Yeah maybe." said Jane.

          "Alright well we are already in Tokyo-3," said Shinji, "so it's safe to say that we need to go ahead and start getting ready to leave this train."

          "Yeah," said Jane, "I swear anymore time and I think I'll become claustrophobic."

          Shinji laughed, "Yeah, I'm starting to get butt cramps." 

          After a hearty laugh, the pair stepped out onto the train platform. Shinji supporting his duffle bag in his hand. It looked fairly heavy but he didn't seem to notice, or show any sign of discomfort. In fact he was also carrying Janet's bags as well. 

          "Hopefully, I we can find one of my grandparents." said Janet.

          "Yeah, this stuff isn't heavy, just a lot of it," said Shinji balancing the luggage in his arms, "hard to balance and all." 

          "Well, you did volunteer." said Jane. 

          "Rub it in my face…" said Shinji. 

          "There, I see them," cried Jane, "this way Ikari." 

          Shinji managed to balance the bags and not fall flat on his face. 

          "Thank you," said the elderly lady, "for helping my grand-daughter with her stuff."

          "Oh," replied Shinji, "It wasn't a problem; I only ask one thing in return." 

          "And what would that be?" asked the lady.

          "That I be allowed to take her out to dinner tonight," said Shinji, "to celebrate our new friendship." 

          The grandmother smiled, "I think we can arrange that, here's the number where we will be staying at, give us a call, so you can contact her." She quickly wrote down a number on a piece of paper and they left with good byes.

          I hope that Captain Katsuragi makes it here soon, thought Shinji. He slid on his shades, the sun was simply to bright to do otherwise.

          Shinji waited for what seemed like hours, which was really only half an hour. 

          "I'm sick of waiting," said Shinji standing up from a chair he sat for the time, "I need to find a phone."

          Shinji started wandering around, oblivious to his surroundings; he started to walk into the streets. Finding a payphone he dug into his wallet and pulled out a picture of a stunningly beautiful purple haired woman, she was dressed in something very suggestive. It said "Shinji, I'll come pick you up!" then a small drawn heart next to the note, "Look at these" it also said pointing at her breasts, the picture was the finalized with a lipstick kiss on the photo. He turned over the photo to find a couple of phone numbers, maybe her cell phone, he thought, I'll just make sure that she's on her way. He picked up the phone and was about to dial the number when a small beep was heard. "What the…" he said. The phone beeped again, "We're sorry, but due to the special state of emergency, no lines are currently available," said a calm pleasant voice, "this is a recording."  Oh that helps me a lot, Shinji thought sarcastically. 

I could always hack into Big Brother and find her, he thought about to take off his lap top when suddenly the ground started to shake.

          Misato Katsuragi was driving around in a vain attempt to search for her MO, Find Shinji Ikari and bring him to NERV headquarters. The only problem was he was no where in sight. "Damn," she sighed in frustration, "Why did I have to loose him at a time like this?" She glanced at the G.P.S. screen map to try and find any streets or roads he could have gone down.

          The ground stated to wobble; Shinji was nearly knocked off his feet, "Holy shit," he cried as he nearly lost his footing again, "w' the hell is going on?"  

          One of the VTOL combat jets appeared behind a tall skyscraper, moving backwards very fast. Then another in the same fashion, then a whole battalion came all in reverse, fleeing from a thunderous humanoid monster. Shinji could make out very few details from his position, he could make out this monster was entirely black, except for a strange red orb in the center of its chest, and strange bone-like chest plate protected it, and its face looked not unlike a bird's skull.

          Suddenly the VTOL jets let out a volley of missiles simultaneously. Every single one of them hit the monster; it just walked forward like it didn't feel a thing. Then it was all over for one of the jets, a strange purple spear-like light shot out from the monster's hand and tore through the jet like butter. The flaming wreckage came down to earth like a giant fireball, on top of Shinji. 

          "Oh shit!" Shinji cried attempting to dive out of the jet's path. By some sort of miracle another shockwave from the monster pushed the jet ten meters to the left of Shinji.

          "That was too close for comfort." Shinji said as he picked himself up and dusted himself off. He spoke too soon, the monster somehow pushed some sort of visible energy and jump twenty meters into the air and slammed its foot right on the flaming wreckage. The flames hit a gas tank causing it to explode under the monster's foot. Once again Shinji found himself slammed onto the concrete, "Damn it," said Shinji as he pulled himself up, "why couldn't I just get picked up like any other normal kid?" he asked aloud, desperately searching some place even a little safe. "No," said Shinji, "I get slammed around and nearly trampled by a god damn fucking monster, the size of the sunken Statue of Liberty."

          Misato swerved down a side road, to end up at the mother of all road blocks, a big ass black foot. "Oh shit!" she exclaimed as he floored the car in reverse, turning the wheel a hard right. That's when she saw a kid running down the street his bag just behind him flying in the wind. I have to save his ass, Misato thought as she hit the brakes hard. 

          Shinji was just about to cross the street ahead of him, in an attempt to get away from the monster. A dust covered blue car screeched in front of him, the lady in the car yelled at him, "Get you ass in this car if you want to live," she said. "Don't have to tell me twice," he said as he made a mad dash and dove into the seat next to her, "Thanks."  

          "Thank me later," the lady said as she floored the gas again tore off; the smell of burning rubber was heavy inside the car.

          "Hey, wait… your Misato Katsuragi aren't you?" Shinji asked as he got a better look the woman. 

          "Yah that's me sorry about being late," said Misato. 

          "You made up for it by saving me ass." Said Shinji grinning, he looked at the rear-view mirror as saw the disappearing monster as they speed along. 

          "So why did you not stay at the train depot?" Misato asked as she glanced at Shinji.  
          "Simple," Shinji said adjusting his glasses, "you where late, I tried to find a phone to call you, to make sure you where on your way." 

          "I guess," Misato said, "I take it that you ran into some trouble though."

          Shinji let out a frustrated sigh, "Oh nothing that bad, it was fine until that stupid 'state of emergency' crap came up, it was all down hill from there." 

          "Meet the big-bad-monster." Misato said.

          "Yeah," Shinji said, "it decided to have a flaming jet plane make me into a pancake, then I wanted to trample me," he said, "it was lets-kill-the-Japanese-boy day." 

          Misato laughed, "Well it looks like we need to stop and give this car a rest," Misato said, "its about to overheat." 

          "Yeah," said Shinji, "and I'm betting that little stunt you pulled just about wrecked you transmission.

          "Don't tell me that!" Misato said groaning, "I just had this car serviced!"

          So they stopped on a hill overlooking the city and the U.N. battling the monster. The VTOL jets seemed to be having some trouble with the thing; even the large missile was worthless against it.

          "Damn," said Shinji leaning against the car, "we're doing more damage to us, than that monster."

          "Yeah..." said Misato as she walked to the railing near the car and squinted to get a better look. 

          "Hey, I got some image enhancers," said Shinji as he started to dig through his bag, "want to borrow 'em?" 

          "Yeah, sure, thanks." Misato said as Shinji handed the binoculars to her.

          "No prob." Shinji said.

          Misato puts the IE on and watches the heated battle from the railing, hoping that her car will cool down fast so she can get Shinji to NERV.

          "We're hitting it with everything we got," yelled one of three generals that where watching the battle from a large holographic display screen. "No affect…" sighed another, "we're losing too much of our defense force." 

          Suddenly one of the phones rang; the youngest general slid his ID card into the card reader before he picked up the phone.

          "Yes?" answered the General, "Yes… of course I understand." He then paused for a second "We will execute back up plan at once, sir." With that he hung up the phone, and took a deep sigh to relax his nerves, he had hoped that it would have never come to this but I had to be done, "Order the strike," said the youngest, the others nodded knowing full well what was to come, "and for Christ sake get the others out of there."         

          Misato watched intently as the jets battled valiantly against the overwhelming odds, suddenly the jets scrambled. "What the…" began Misato when the sudden realization hit her like a ton of bricks, "they wouldn't!" she cried as he turned and started running towards the car at full speed, "Shinji, get in the car and hit the deck, now!" she said as she herself dove in and shut the door and laid flat against the seat. She heard Shinji do the same thing a second later, and then the sound of a massive explosion echoed all around the car, then the shockwave hit, rolling the car over its side repeatedly. 

          The first thing Shinji did as he finally felt the car stop rolling around was to check himself for any sort of injury. Nope, nothing broken, everything seemed fine… Shinji slowly picked himself up from the bottom of the car. Feeling brave he poked his head out of the window, shortly followed closely by Misato who was parallel to him. The hot wind was forcing his hair back and to wave in the air, it also was making him sweat. Even with his shades on the light was close to unbearable, the electrodes pulsed from the center in the form similar to a mushroom cloud.  

          "Yeah!" yelled out one of the generals, he had total confidence in the fact that they killed the thing. Many other officers joined in the cheering, in complete confidence that it was destroyed, after all it was an N² bomb. 

          Commander Ikari grunted, "Arrogant bastards, don't they know that conventional weapons have no effect against an A.T. Field?" he asked Fuyutsuki, "I seriously doubt that a N² bomb will have a significant effect."

          Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki only nodded from his place next to Commander Ikari, he always perfered standing next to him, to watch his movements carefully. 

          "What's the status of the target?" asked one of the generals, he knew what the answer was going to be. 

          "The shockwave knocked out all out external sensor," explained one of the communications officers, "we need to reboot and bring the back-ups on-line, it should only take thirty seconds, sir." 

          For that half a minute, it was total silence in the command center, even the quite hums of the three MAGI super computers where not heard. Then a beep was heard at a console, "External back-ups are coming on-line..." 

           The large holographic screen showed a three dimensional graph of the recently created crater, suddenly a huge energy spike shot up from the center of the crater. 

          "High energy readings on the FCS sensors!" yelled out one of the technicians, as the spike drew up on the screen. 

          "External cameras coming on-line," reported another, "putting it on the main screen."

          A collective gasp and a lone "No" rang out in the command center. The youngest General slumped in this chair in utter defeat. He was so sure, so damned sure it would work. 

          "It seems that the Angels are indeed back." said Commander Ikari.  
          "Yes, and it seems to be regenerating." said Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki.

          "Of course, without that ability it couldn't operate without support units." said Ikari.

          Suddenly the Angel looked up and destroyed a plane with the live camera feed; another collective gasp filled the command center. 

          "And it's getting smarter." said Fuyutsuki.

          "Ikari, it seems that we have no way to defeat this monster," explained the General bitterly, "we are relinquishing command and intrusting it to you."

          "Ikari," said another General, "Can you defeat it?"

          "That's why NERV exists." said Commander Ikari smugly.

          "I prey your right." said the eldest General. With that they left, the platform which they where sitting at disappeared below the command deck. 

          "The U.N. forces are exhausted," said Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki, "what do you plan to do?"

          "Activate Unit One…" said Commander Ikari.

          "Activate it?!" asked a shocked Fuyutsuki, "b-but we have no pilot."

          "We just found one," explained Ikari, "another spare is being delivered."

          Shinji Ikari was playing around on his wireless data pad, he had a small screen running a GPS program on the upper right corner of the screen, what he found was something that started him, he wasn't let off of the train in Tokyo-3, but in fact, one of the other suburban areas bordering the city. It also seemed that they where traveling along a road that didn't exist, they weren't even on the blasted map anymore, "What the hell…" he said as suddenly the map program was scrambled and static started on the screen. He hit the side of the screen in a vain hope that it would work, then he glanced at Misato's own GPS screen at it was working just fine, that only deepened his frustration. 

          Misato calmly glanced at his puzzlement, "I bet your wondering why mines working and not yours," she asked, "It's simple, mines running on a military frequency, yours is civilian so it won't run without the proper codes." 

          "Oh," said a mildly surprised Shinji, "damn, well it's not really that important anyways."

          Shinji stole another glance at the bundle of car batteries we took so that the car could run again, somehow the fuel cell was cracked, so we added more juice to the battery. I hope this car doesn't explode before we get to my father, he thought for the millionth time. 

          "Say, Misato…" Shinji began, stealing another glance at the batteries, "I swear if you get caught with those I had nothing to do with it." 

          "Oh that…" she said looking at them as well before going back to the road ahead, "Well I am a govern't official and this is an emergency." 

          Yeah, though Shinji, that was the most load of bull I've ever heard. "So Misato, how long until we get there?" he asked to spark up a conversation.

          "Well Shinji, in about five minutes we will reach the gate then about another five to reach the trans-it trains." 

          "Ok cool ten minutes," he said "I'm going to hold you to that."

          "Why?" 

          "I got' a go." 

          With that Misato's car phone rang, she picked it up and with a "Hello?"

          "Oh hi," said Misato, "Yeah, he's with me… Don't worry he's under my protection isn't he…I'm going to need a train as soon as I get there, an express of course… Listen, don't worry I'll be there… in five minutes… bah-bye." 

           Shinji was staring out the window, taking in the scenery. It was all ruined by the artificial walls after the guard station. It was a tunnel that ran through the mountain, accually underneath the city. Misato kept driving along the road until she came across many spaced parking spots. It started out level, but it soon started to move, much like escalators, but it was car-sized. 

          "Oh yeah," Misato said suddenly, "I forgot, did your father send you an ID card?"

          "Um… Yeah here it is…" Shinji searched through his bag until he found it folded up in one of the pockets. He handed it to Misato, then went back to watching the little red lights blur past as the train picked up speed.

         "So, Misato, my father works here right?" Shinji asked again in an attempt to conversant.

          "Well… sort 'a… you could say that." 

          "I wonder what my father does..."

          "You mean you don't know?"

          "Nope, not even a single clue."

          "Do you even know why you're here?"

          "Well… my teachers all told me that it was best for mankind… whatever the hell that means."

          "Shinji…"

          "Yeah, what's up?"

          "Well… here read this it should explain everything." Misato then handed him a green folder that was tied off, "Top secret" was written all over it. "NERV" was at the top in blood red. Shinji looked closer at the logo, "God is in his heaven and all is right with the world" Wow, thought Shinji, that's deep, and if I'm not mistaken that would be half a fig leaf.

          Shinji just flipped through the folder of information, it was full of crap that he could seriously care less about, but it would take up time.  The Geo-Front passed him up, but he didn't notice because he was too engrossed in the reading.

          "Isn't this the right way?" Misato asked rhetorically. Suddenly a gust of escaping air rushed up from the endless transit walkways. "This is why I hate wearing a skirt around here."

          And every single man in his right mind loves it when she wears a skirt, though Shinji with a big fat grin plastered all over his face. 

          "You know I just started working here myself." said Misato.

          "Wow, that's cool."

          "Yeah, just under a month is when I moved here."

          "Well, since you did just move here… I think we should ask for someone to come get us."

          Misato gave out a small sigh, "Yeah, I suppose your right."

          "Will the chair person of E project, technical division one, Doctor Ritsuko Akagi please contact Captain Misato Katsuragi of Operations. Division one." announced the speakers. 

          "I don't believe this..." said Ritsuko Akagi as she unzipped her wet suit and took off her diving mask, "is she lost again?"

          "From what I gather Misato, NERV is just a super secret organization that is controlled by the U.N." said Shinji.

          "Yes, well that about sums it up," said Misato as she slumped against the wall in the elevator, "It also is a defense division, but you'll more than likely learn more about that later."

          Defense, though Shinji, this is getting more interesting every second.

          Shinji glanced up as saw a young lady around her late twenties; she was just as tall as Misato but had a really serious look. This must be Ritsuko, the one the Misato asked for, thought Shinji, Yup Misato is going to be chewed out.

          "Captain…" said Ritsuko as she bumped into Misato, forcing her to move towards the back of the elevator, "why are you wasting my time, you know that we are short on time and man power."

          Misato took in a sharp breath, "Sorry." 

          Ritsuko just glanced at Shinji who was still reading the stuff in the folder, "So is this the boy?"

          "Um… yes," said Misato, "according to the Marduke report, he's the third child."

"Pleased to meet you..." Ritsuko said.

"Oh… you must be Doctor Ritsuko Akagi; Misato spoke very highly of you." Said Shinji, in truth Misato hadn't spoken a word, but it made good conversation. 

          "Yes that would be me." said Ritsuko.

          Shinji held out his hand, "Pleasures all mine, I assure you."

          They shook hands and they went off Ritsuko in the lead. 

          Commander Ikari walked towards the small one person lift, "Handle the rest of this…" he said.

          Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki watched as Commander Ikari went down to one of the lower levels, "Their first meeting in over three years." The comment was meant for him alone but his voice carried, so much of the bridge heard. 

          "Sir," said a communications officer, "The target is mobilizing again, it's headed towards Tokyo-3."

          "Understood," said Fuyutsuki as he turned around, "Go to battle stations, level one."

          "Repeat. Battle stations, level one. Prepare for ground-unit interception." said the speakers.

          "There we go." said Misato.

          "Sounds pretty serious…" said Ritsuko.

          "So how's unit one coming?" asked Misato.

          "It's currently undergoing refrigeration, using the B-type equipment."

"Will it really work? It never worked before has it?"

"Well, the possibility of activation is 0.000000001%. Around here we just call it the 0-9 system."

"Does it mean it doesn't work?"

"Oh, don't be insulting. It's O-9 as in Oni, a Japanese devil."

"Well… anyways, I suppose it's a bit late to be saying 'Sorry it doesn't work'." 

The elevator that they where on finally stopped at the highest point it could reach. They all climbed out, Shinji still reading the stuff in the green folder. They walked into a room where the only light that was in the room came from the opening from the door they just came from. Suddenly the door closed leaving it pitch black. 

"Damn it. Why is it so dark in here? Now I can't read." Shinji said annoyed. 

As if to bend to Shinji's will, lights turned on, revealing a giant mountain of metal. 

"Wow, what is it, it looks like a face." Shinji pointed out, his mind desperately trying to find an answer. "No wait; it's a giant robot, isn't it."

Shinji then tried to search in the folder, how in the hell could he have missed something like this?

"You won't find this in there." Ritsuko said who had been watching Shinji's every move.

"Huh?" Shinji grunted, looking away from the folder.

"This is man's ultimate humanoid fighting machine, the first model of the synthetic life form known as Evangelion, Unit 01: Built here in secret, it is mankind's last hope." said Ritsuko.

"So this is my father's work…" said Shinji.

"Correct." A booming voice had announced, it filled the entire room and echoed.

Shinji suddenly looked up, above the Evangelion, there was his father. He was in a glass room, with monitors all across one wall. 

"It's been a while." Commander Ikari said coldly.

"Father..." said Shinji staring up at him, fury in his eyes. 

Commander Ikari finally adverted his eyes and looked at Misato and Ritsuko, "We're moving out."

"Moving out?! Unit 00's still in cryo-stasis, isn't it?" said Misato, suddenly it clicked she let out a gasp, "wait a minute, your going to use Unit 01?"

"There's no other way." said Ritsuko.

"Now wait, Rei can't do it yet can she?" Misato asked, "We don't have a pilot."

"We just received one." said Ritsuko sternly.

"You're serious aren't you?" Misato asked.

"Shinji you will pilot it." Ritsuko told the young man.

Shinji completely tuning out the bickering ladies focused on his father, "So this is what you've been working on for all these years…" It was a rhetorical question but it got answered anyways. "Yes that is correct." Commander Ikari said. Shinji then smirked, something which unnerved Commander Ikari to the core, but he didn't let it show, it could be exploited. "Alright, I'll pilot your robot. But let it be known that it's not for you, so some shit you are going to pull, I'm doing it for the people out there getting slaughtered. We will talk about conditions later."  

          Commander Ikari never fixed anyone with a more penetrating stare as he did now, "Your terms are acceptable, but know this, I am not a person you want to make demands with, do not push it… pilot." 

"Of course, father." Shinji said, then he turned to Ritsuko, "Well, it seems that I am about to get a crash course in Evangelion piloting." 

"Yes well here, first you must…" Ritsuko said. 

Five minutes later Shinji found himself inside a long cylinder cockpit, he fidgeted a little trying to find a more comfortable position, the seat itself was amazing, and it formed to his body shape to provide comfort as well as protection. 

A true testament of human's creativeness given the resources, mused Shinji. 

Ritsuko Akagi drunk deeply from her ritual early morning coffee, this should help me think better, she thought. "Alright," her voice soft but commanding, "Insert the Entry Plug." 

Her 'right-hand', Maya Ikubi, Voiced out her instructions and hit a series of buttons to input the data needed to carry out the order. "Entry Plug – inserted." 

"Fill the Entry Plug with L.C.L." said Ritsuko.

"Filling the Entry Plug." Maya said. 

Now is a good time to panic, thought Shinji as strange orange tinted liquid came rising up the plug. "Say," Shinji said, trying to sound as calm as possible, "Guys… this room is filling up with a liquid. I don't think I can hold my breath for that long."

"Don't worry," assured Ritsuko over the communications link, "it's called L.C.L.; once it has filled you lung, it will oxygenate your cells directly." 

The L.C.L. completely filled the plug when Ritsuko finished her explanation. Shinji feeling the burn of old air in his lungs trying to get out and fill his lungs with new air. Finally when Shinji could hold it no more he let out the rest of the stale air and took in the L.C.L.; it was warm and cold at the same time. It was a very unpleasant experience, the feeling of glop going down his wind pipe and filling his lungs. Shinji's body tried to reject the liquid but finding it impossible it reluctantly got used to the feeling.  "I think I'm going to be sick." Shinji said nauseously.

Misato, suddenly feeling slightly irritated at the boy's sudden pathetic behavior, yelled at Shinji to, "Stop complaining, you're a boy, aren't you?"

Shinji annoyed by Misato's sudden rudeness said the first thing that came to his mind, "Being a boy, doesn't make me any less sick." 

Misato was completely flabbergasted, she was unable to think of a witty comeback because she didn't really have anything on him. Ritsuko took this opertunity and went back to the activation sequence. "Charge the L.C.L." Ritsuko said. 

"Charging the L.C.L." Said Maya.

Shinji felt a strange but pleasant electrical surge throughout his entire body, then he noticed that the L.C.L. suddenly became much less hazy and more clear. Suddenly the plug around him became a whirl of colors and images. 

"Start the synconization process between the pilot and the Evangelion unit," said Ritsuko.

"Connecting the A-10 nerve…" Maya said while continuing the long start up procedure.

Shinji was hardly paying attention to what the techs where doing, running around not unlike ants. A pleasant voice over the intercom keep announcing this and that, suddenly a very strange feeling overcame Shinji. "I wonder how I am supposed to operate this blasted war machine," he wondered aloud. 

Suddenly a facial picture of Dr. Ritsuko Akagi appeared on the video screen, but she wasn't looking directly at the screen she was looking at something else. "Well Shinji, it's quite simple, this Eva operates on the principle of negative feedback. While it's not entirely the same as the prototype mobile suits that the army uses, this robot is entirely mental negative feedback. All your thoughts that you use to operate your body is used to move the robot. Once the Evangelion is activated, your theorethicly you will feel very strange and sluggish."

Shinji interrupted the small briefing that Akagi was giving him, "Wait a second, what do you mean by theorethicly?" Shinji asked the Dr. whose picture turned to see his face. 

          "Well, uh, it has never been tested, the only people that have tested the Evangelion died, to be blunt." Ritsuko said slowly.

          "Oh, well that makes me feel a whole bunch better." Shinji said sarcastically. 

          Suddenly Shinji jerked a bit, quite suddenly. "Ma'am we have reached absolute border-line." Suddenly the lights pasted the marked point and continued to rise. "Evangelion Unit 01 is activated. Synchronization ratio is holding currently at 58% and slowly rising." 

          Ritsuko leaned closer to the monitor to make sure her eyes where not deceiving her. "Amazing," she finally managed to say. 

          Shinji's head was spinning, man what the hell just happened to him, he wondered. He felt very strange, it was impossible to describe because there was nothing else on earth to help you understand. He felt detached, like he had taken strong pain killers. 

          "Shinji," Ritsuko said, "listen very carefully I don't want you to move a lot right now. Ok?" 

          Shinji slowly brought his head to face the video communications link. "Alright, I'll try not to move." Shinji said. No fully understanding the situation. The truth was the order was to protect the techs from Shinji's inexperience in operating the Evangelion. 

"Listen, right now, you are extremely dangerous. I want you to move your head slowly, but concentrate on you head and nothing else." Ritsuko said. 

          Misato leaned close to Dr. Akagi and leaned in close, "Are you sure we have enough time for this?" she whispered. 

          "Yes, just enough, that N² bought us some time." Ritsuko said, "Alright Shinji, I want you to concentrate on moving the Eva's head, just envision the Evangelion head, now move it to the right." 

          The enormous head of the Evangelion unit slowly moved to the right, causing small waves to move across the cooling liquid.

          "Do you know that just now you moved the Eva's head while still inside the plug and not touching anything?" Ritsuko asked.

          "Wha- no way! Cool." Shinji said. 

          "Yes, you did it by concentrating on the Eva's features; do you think you can fight the Angel?" Ritsuko asked.

          "Angel?" Shinji asked.

          "An Angel is that monster you narrowly escaped from." Ritsuko said. 

         "Oh." was all Shinji managed to say before a massive explosion shook the entire building.

          "It's here!" yelled Misato as she grabbed hold of the computer station next to her for support. "Move the Eva to launch catapult 58." 

          Shinji could over hear techs talking about: flushing the coolant and safety locks number one through fifty eight being released. Suddenly he could feel himself being moved, he looked at the enormous screen that showed what the Evangelion was "seeing", the amazing thing was it was all real-time. Shinji felt a sudden jerk, and everything was calm again.

          "Evangelion Unit 01 in position and ready to launch." announce Maya.

          Misato then turned to Commander Ikari, "Will this really work?"

          The Commander just stared down at her with his icy stare, "Of course, other wise we have no future." 

          Misato nodded, the yelled, "Eva launch!" 

Shinji grunted at the sudden feeling of five times his proper weight slammed against his spine. The Evangelion rocketed up the launch tube, into the futuristic city that was Neo Tokyo-3, to save it from a threat that threatens the very existence of the human race. 

          "Good luck, Shinji," said Misato looking at the holographic screen as it showed the Evangelion rising up from the elevator shaft to the desolate streets to face the Angel, "I have a feeling you are going to need it."


	3. Chapter Two

**Chapter Two**

High Noon March 28, 2015

Neo Tokyo-3, Japan

          On a normal day in Tokyo-3, it would be sunny and hardly a cloud in the sky with a cool breeze, this wasn't the case today. It was dark and raining, as the very sky rumbled with thunder and flashes of lighting. No one noticed it though, most of the citizens where in emergency shelters, because of some sort of threat. No one knew except NERV personal that where on duty that day. An enormous monster towering roughly about half a mile was standing in the middle of the dark city, seemingly waiting for something or someone.

          Shinji was not feeling so great after having about five times his proper weight slammed against his spine when he was sky rocketed up the launch shaft and onto the wet streets of Tokyo-3. As the Eva's head cleared the street, he saw something that nearly made him pee in his pants. That thing that Ritsuko called an Angel, was staring right at him. "Ah shit!" Shinji said as he instinctively tried to duck and roll out of the path of the Angel. But something was holding him back, "What the hell Misato, I can't move." Shinji said barely keeping his voice steady. 

          Misato turned to Maya, "Why isn't the Elevator not releasing him?" she asked her, she kept cool and calm. 

          "It's malfunctioning at section 89, the hydrolic locks have too much pressure its not releasing." Maya said panicking. 

          "Ah shit." Misato said starting to get worried.

          Suddenly the Angel charged, straight at Unit 01. Fuck, was the only word that went through his mind as he was slammed hard in the gut. Shinji let out a grunt; he felt like shit, he really wanted to throw up. His shoulders where aching and he felt like all the air was knocked out of him, he looked around in a fuzzy gaze. 

          Evangelion Unit 01 slowly picked itself up, recovering slower than the attacker, which was a big mistake when it was once again rammed and slammed the Evangelion back onto a mountain. Eva unit 01 used the mountain as support as it leaned up against it to get back up. 

          "You Bastard," yelled Shinji in pure fury, "that hurts like hell." 

          As if to retort, the Angel slowly lifted its hand against the charging Evangelion unit and shot out a beam of pure energy. 

          Shinji let out a pained yell. He tried to dodge the beam but the damned thing hit him in the shoulder. 

          "The beam went right through his shoulder." Announced Maya, "and the nerve connections on the left shoulder are starting to break up."

          "Where in the hell are his defense systems?" Ritsuko asked, "Why are they not working." 

          "They are not up." Maya responded.   
          "It's not up?!" Ritsuko asked startled.

          Shinji was pissed off, very pissed off. He had never felt anything like it; intense rage was the only thing that came close. "I'm going to kill you," he said in a low growl, "if it's the last thing I do." 

          "This can't be right!" Maya said astonished, while staring at her computer screen, "How can his Sync ratio be at 80%?"

          "What did you say?!" Misato asked, feeling completely helpless at the moment.

          Evangelion Unit 01, the all absolute black monster, moved with grace and speed. It dodged beams coming from the Angels hands, and landed a thundering punch into the gut of the Angel. It doubled over in pain. The Eva, not giving the Angel a second to recover, continued its relentless attack. Knees, punches, tackles, and kicks, all hitting the Angel in a fury of anger and adrenaline. 

          The Command Center was deathly quiet, the only sounds where gasps and grunts. They all stared at the immense holographic screen, in complete awe at the sheer power of the E-project when put in the hands of a very mad pilot. The cold voice of the pilot rang out in the Command Center causing most to wince. 

          "Misato, I need a weapon that will kill this thing." Shinji said. He was sitting in the cockpit, or the entry plug as the techs called it. Blood was freely coming from his mouth and nose. He was aching in half-a-dozen places. His ribs felt cracked, but he ignored the pain, his life was on the line. He could not afford anymore mistakes. 

          Ritsuko watched the pilot on the small communications monitor from her station. The pilot was clearly in pain. Hopefully he will make it, she thought, we don't have another, just yet.

          "Shinji, I am sending up a rifle… now, it's on your left." Misato said. 

          "Sorry Misato, or whatever your name is," Shinji said.  "Listen, I think I can kill this thing. Guns and stuff are useless. I saw those attacks." 

          Misato though for a moment, it was true that conventional weapons did not work on this Angel. Even that large warhead didn't do much damage. "Ritsuko, is the progressive knife equipted on Evangelion Unit 01?" she asked.

          "Yes, the Techs decided to install it on the left shoulder compartment, for an offensive purpose." Ritsuko said as she pulled up the schematics of the Evangelion unit on her computer screen.

          "Shinji, I need you to activate your left shoulder compartment." Misato said to the Holographic video of Shinji in the Plug. "The button should be on your left side. Then pull out the Progressive Knife. It will activate after five seconds of pressure on the handle." 

          Shinji looked back into the face of Misato Katsuragi. Such a beautiful face, he would gladly die for her.  "It will die on this battle field." Shinji said malice in his voice. 

          Shinji quickly searched for some sort of keys on his left side. He needed to use every precious second he had, if he made one mistake it could prove to be fatal. 

          Seeing a strange assortment of keys on the left wall he tried to touch the visual representation of the keys. He tried to touch the left shoulder compartment activation key. Suddenly a holographic hand appeared on the wall. Apperantly the whole wall was a screen, moving the hand with his own gloved hand he hit the activation key. "L. Shoulder weapon activated"

          Evangelion Unit 01's left shoulder opened up, a holster popped out. It grabbed the object, which revealed to be an enormous knife. The shoulder reverted into itself and looked the same as it did before. Seemingly sensing the danger the Angel attacked, the Evangelion once again slammed into the mountain. Then the Angel exploded, it fell on top of the knife, the knife pieced its core. 

          "What is the status of the pilot and the Evangelion?" Misato asked, dreading the answer. 

          "The Evangelion Unit 01 is suffering from sever armor damage, the explosion melted it right through to the 4th layer. The Eva is currently at 67% combat ready. It took quite a beating." One of the com officers reported. 

          "The Pilot is barely conscious, possible head trama, unknown physical damage." Ritsuko stated.

          "Shinji," Misato said to the open link to Unit 01, "Shinji, can you hear me?" 

          "Yeah," Shinji said. One of his eyes was half closed, his voice sounded forced, like he couldn't talk without tremendous effort. The L.C.L. around him was a strange red tint. 

          "I can give you instructions to move the Eva to one of the waypoints; there we will get you back to base." Misato said softly. 

          "Alright." Shinji said. 

          The Evangelion made it slowly back to base, you could see much of the damage, also the flesh underneath the armor. 

          "Ejecting the Entry Plug." 

          Shinji slowly climbed out of the now open plug, pain withered his body. There was deep bruising all over his body. 

          Misato came running up, "Good job Shinji, how do you feel?" 

          "Like shit." Shinji simply said, he coughed up blood and then collapsed. 

          Misato watched as Shinji hit the metal grate like a sack of bricks. "Oh shit," Misato said as she bent down, "MEDIC!"

          Two men came running down to Misato and Shinji. One of them came with a stretcher and the other came and started checking his vitals. "He has deep lacerations on his right leg, and he's got bruises all over his body." He said as he tried to stop the bleeding.  Suddenly Shinji started to jerk and cough. "He's going into shock; we need a medi-vac, NOW!" 

          Misato watched helplessly as they moved Shinji from the cages. "You better stay alive Shinji… we all owe you our lives now."

          In a pitch black room, where the only visible light came from small floor panels, two men where standing in the middle of one of the lighted floor panels. The ozone in the room created a strange sort of fog appearance as it refracted the lighting. 

          "This is a dangerous game you're playing Gendou." Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki said. 

          Fuyutsuki shifted into a more comfortable position to study any reaction from Gendou Ikari. Nothing. So he continued, "How long do you think you can continue to manipulate Shinji and Misato." 

Still nothing. "How many are you will to sacrifice to win this?" Fuyutsuki continued to ask.

          "All of them, if need be." Commander Ikari said still looking at a painting on the left wall. It was of an angel with eight wings descending into the stars. 

          "Even your own son, your own flesh and blood are you willing to sacrifice him as well?" Fuyutsuki asked fearing the answer. 

          "Yes." Was the simple answer from Ikari, but the word seemed to roll around them and echo off the wall and into the dead of night in the Geo-Front. 

          With a loud groan, Shinji Ikari slowly started to come to. He could tell that he was in a very sterile environment, it smelled of harsh cleaners. It hurt as he took in another breath. He slowly opened his eyes and that hurt too. 

          A nurse who was on duty checked in on Room 407, Ikari, Shinji. She saw movement and went inside to investigate. "Ah, I see that you're finally awake." She said as she saw Shinji open his eyes. She then started to check his vitals, and jot down a few notes, "The doctor and your friend Ms. Katsuragi will be in a few moments." Then she left. 

          An eternity later, accually fifteen minutes, the doctor, an older man with graying hair, came in. "So Shinji how are you feeling?"

          "Like hammered Shit." Shinji said bluntly. 

          The answer awarded Shinji with a small smile from the doctor. 

          "Yes, well, you seem to be healing nicely, and let me give you a quick look over and I think you can leave the hospital." The doctor said. 

          The doctor didn't take very long in looking him over, just a quick check on reflexes and normal body functions then he left. Misato Katsuragi showed up only a minute after the man left. 

          "Hey." Misato said as she leaned on the door looking in on Shinji.

          "Hey." Shinji said managing a smile, which hurt. 

          "Can I come in?" asked Misato. 

          "Yeah sure, make yourself at home." Shinji said. 

          "So…" Misato started not quite sure how to procede. 

          "You know Misato… If I'm going to start piloting the Evangelion I think I need to get some combat training." Shinji said casually. 

          Misato stared at him at first, but then cracked a smile, he had let her off the hook of asking him if he would pilot again. She was pretty sure the he wouldn't after being beaten half to death. 

          "So do you think you can sign me out, and we can get out of here?" Shinji asked as he started to get up. 

          "And what makes you think you can just leave?" Misato asked freigning seriousness as she crossed her arms over her chest. 

          "Simple after the Doc finished poking and prodding he seemed pretty happy with the results." Shinji said. 

          Misato chuckled a bit, true the doctor had said he was in good condition and he would be 100% in a matter of days. 

          "Alright, your right, he said you where good now." Misato said smiling, "Let's get going we need you to get situated and need to do tons of paperwork. You are now joining a top secret organization that protects the world." 

          "I swear if there is an examination…" Shinji said

          As the two walked out of the hospital they drive back to NERV headquarters most of the way in silence. 

          "You know I think I did that bad for my first day on the job." Shinji said grinning. 

          Finally after signing what seemed like an endless flow of paperwork Shinji and Misato where finally finished. 

          "Lets go, we need to get you assigned a place to live. We can't have NERV's most talented pilot living on the streets now can we?"  Misato said. 

          Shinji laughed, "You flatter me. Alright let's go." 

          They ended up in the most extraordinary room Shinji had ever seen.  Shinji could tell that the ceiling was not a normal one, but made entirely of glass, a crystal clear lake sat on top of the glass. You could just see the buildings through the lake and glass. The glossy floor reflected what you could see above. Sometimes it would ripple as the water above shifted, and this combined with the company of Misato Katsuragi, Shinji believed this was the most beautiful place on earth. 

          Suddenly the floor started to shift, and it went flying across the Geo-Front, "This is where you will be living," the man said as the floor showed a nice apartment building, "it's on the third block just beyond this one, one bed, one bath, one den, roughly fifteen hundred feet. Is this exeptable?" 

          Not so bad for saving the world, I kind of like it, Shinji thought. "Sure this is a great place." 

          "What?" Misato exclaimed, "He's going to be living alone?" 

          "Yes that is correct," the man said after glancing at his clipboard, "Unless you have a better offer…" 

          Shinji had a smug look on his face as he sat down on a bench while Misato Katsuragi made a phone call to the beautiful Doctor Ritsuko Akagi. Shinji could just make out the conversation as Misato's voice started to rise. 

          "Yes, that's right," Misato said into the phone, "He's going to be living with me, and I'm going to be his guardian." Misato then added, "Oh, and don't worry, I'm not going to be making any passes at him." She then winked at the phone.

          The other end exploded, even Shinji heard what Dr. Akagi said, "Of course your not, how can you even think about something like that. He is only fourteen years old." 

          Shinji was laughing at the expression of pure horror on Misato's face as she held the phone receiver about a foot from her face. 

          Shinji then grab the phone and put it too his ear, "Yeah, Ritsuko, as entertaining as you two can be I'm really hungry, so… Good Bye." He said and hung up the phone. 

          "Come on Misato, I'm STARVING!" Shinji said as his stomach made an audible agreement. "I swear the hospital food is crap, for the money they get paid you would think you could have a steak everyday." 

          Misato laughed as she jogged to catch up with Shinji, "Yeah, actually I had an idea… how about we have a small party, just the two of us." She said.

          "You know…" Shinji said casually as he put on his I'm-really-attracted-to-you smile, "If it's just the two of us, it could be called a date instead of a party." 

          Misato suddenly frowned, "Now Shinji…"

          Shinji cracked a grin, "I know I'm just messing with you. Now let's go get some food." 

          While at the store Shinji and Misato over heard a conversation about the previous battle, "Do you know what happened during the evacuation to the shelters?" One woman asked. 

          "Yeah, I heard it was a huge monster that attacked the city." Another said. 

          "Would explain the damage done to the mountain and the city." said the first woman as she paid for her things. 

          "Who cares about a mountain, as long as no one died." The other said.     

          "True, want to hear something really crazy, a friend of mine said a giant robot defended our city." said the lady as she waited for her friend.

          "No way, that is crazy..." said the other one as the left the store. 

          Shinji smiled as they left, those words alone made it worth suffering the pain of saving the city from the monster. Shinji soon found himself staring at the sunset as Misato waited to pay for all the food they got. 

          "Trying to get a handle on the moment?" Misato asked.

          "Yeah, it just all started to hit me." Shinji said. 

          "Come on hero, I want to show you something on the way to my place." Misato said. 

          "Ok, I think I can last a few minutes." Shinji said. 

          The car stops near a ledge overlooking Tokyo-3. Shinji and Misato walk the rest of the way until they reach a railing. 

          "You know…" Shinji said as he watched the sky in the brilliant colors of red and orange, "I spent most of my life, trying to rid myself of my father, and now I find myself working under him, irony has a strange sense of humor." 

          "I always thought so…" Misato said, "It should start now." 

          Shinji was about to say, "What's starting," but never got to. A loud siren came from the city and suddenly the buildings starting to come up from the ground. Large bolts locked into place once the buildings reached their full height. 

          "Well I'll be damned, so that's why the city looked so barren. It was all underground." Shinji said with a hint of awe at the site of the metropolitan that was Tokyo-3. 

          "Yup, this is the city that you saved; nearly 4 million people owe their lives to you." Misato said. 

They drove back to Misato's apartment, as they walked up to the door Shinji spotted his stuff on the floor in boxes, all fifteen of them. 

          "A lot of stuff you got there." Misato said as she opened her door.

          "Yeah…" Shinji said as he bent down and got an envelope that held a note:

          Dear Mr. Ikari:

                   We are sorry that we missed you today, your motorcycle is currently at our storage office in Tokyo-3, and you can come by anytime between 8-8pm. 

          "Oh great my bikes somewhere in storage," Shinji said annoyed, "Hey, Misato would you know where this place is?" 

          Shinji showed Misato the note, "Um… yeah, it's about a few blocks from here, we can pick it up tomorrow." 

          "Ok good, I kind of miss my bike." Shinji said. 

          "I understand completely, um… by the way, my place might be a little messy…" Misato said as she walked on in.

         As Shinji stepped in he almost gasped. He took off his shoes and entered the living room, peach colored carpet, tan leather furniture. Big screen T.V. and nice entertainment system, he could see only a few beer cans and some left over chips, some scattered magazines but that was it. She called this messy? Shinji though, he had seen so much worse. 

          "This is a little messy?" Shinji voiced his thoughts.

          "Uh, yeah, hey Shinji, could you put the stuff the fridge, I really need to change." Misato said as she started to take off her NERV jacket. 

          "Yeah sure, I'll do it." Shinji said as he went into the kitchen.         

          All the apliences where sleek black and went well with the granite countertops. Everything was where it was supposed to be… two refridgerators? What in the hell… Shinji decided to go for the right one, just something told him to go for the right one, so he opened the right one and placed the food and drinks in the fridge. He then opened the next door and found… lots and lots of beer. 

          "Jackpot…" Shinji said as he stared at the gold mine, I'm sure she's not going to miss one or two every so often, Shinji thought. He closed the door again, he wasn't going to be so stupid as to take one when she was sober, that would just be dumb. 

          Misato came out of her room in a wife beater and some jean shorts, Shinji realized that he was going to have to be really tired tonight to not dream about Misato Katsuragi. 

          Everything was finally ready to chow down. Food was out on the table and Misato was putting out the drinks, soda for Shinji and a beer for herself, "Here's to you Shinji for saving the city." Misato said. 

          Shinji smiled, "And here's to you for saving my ass a few times out there." They toasted each other and drank the night away; it was the start of a friendship that would last all. 

          "This will be you room…" Misato said as she gave him an after-party tour. 

          "Perfect… large, roomy," Shinji said, "thank you for the hospitality." 

          "It's my pleasure." Misato said. 

          "You don't mind if I get first dibs at a bath?" Shinji asked. 

          "Sure, go ahead, I need to do some paperwork." Misato answered.

          "Alright, thanks a lot." Shinji said as he walked into the bathroom. 

          Shinji sank into the tub, the hot water slowly undone the muscles in his body, "Misato Katsuragi, she's not so bad." Shinji said as he reflected on what happened over the past two days. "What a cramped little man I've become." Shinji said, it would never happen again, he promised himself. He will live life to its fullest, even if he had to pilot a giant robot against huge monsters. 

          "So how is he?" Ritsuko asked as she sat at her desk at NERV drinking a cup of coffee, her friend Misato had just called a minute earlier. 

          "He…" Misato asked herself aloud, "Oh, you mean Shinji, he's nice. Hit on me at least ten times since I took him under my custody." 

          "Well you are the one that wanted him." Ritsuko said in a teasing voice.

          "Oh shut up!" Misato yelled into the phone and hung up.

          Ritsuko winced and rubbed her ear and hung up the phone as well. 

          Misato sat in the tub as she worked out the frustrations of the day.

          She was not taking care of a kid, who would have ever thought of her as a parent, life was strange like that. 

          Shinji sat down on his bed and laid down, he had just finished unpacking his stuff. His computer was on the desk that the room had, he set up his stereo. It was his room now, he felt more at home. He missed his old home but it was ok. He would have to train tomorrow, physical training and learn more about the Evangelions. The technology was amazing; NERV never seemed to lack the latest gadget to save the world. And he piloted its most powerful weapon. He felt honored and scared at the same time. Tomorrow would be the beginning of his new life. 


End file.
